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Many people either will attend a cookout or will grill over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

When cooking outdoors, it’s important to practice safe food-handling techniques. Here are some from the University of Wisconsin Extension to follow:

■ Wash hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food, especially raw meat. Equally important are the surfaces that come in contact with raw and cooked foods — make sure they are clean before you start and are washed frequently.

■ Always marinate foods in the refrigerator, not on the counter or outdoors. Never use marinade which had been in contact with raw meat as a sauce for cooked meat. Reserve a portion of the marinade before combining it with the raw meat.

■ When grilling foods, preheat the coals for 20 or 30 minutes, or until the coals are lightly coated with ash.

■ If partially cooking food in the microwave, oven or stove to reduce grilling time, do so immediately before the food goes on the hot grill. Never hold partially cooked food for later cooking.

■ Cook food to a safe internal temperature. Use a food thermometer to be sure. Place the food thermometer in the thickest part of the meat. Don’t let it touch the bone, fat or gristle. Check the temperature in several places to make sure the food is evenly heated. Recommended internal temperatures are:

■Fin fish: 145 F or until the fish is opaque and separates easily with a fork.

■Shrimp, lobster and crabs: The meat should be pearly and opaque.

■Clams, oysters and mussels: Until the shells are open.

■ Use long-handled tongs when placing or turning meat on the grill to avoid the loss of juices that keep meat moist and tender. Piercing meat with a fork or knife can also affect food safety. Bacteria are normally found only on the external surface, so roasts and steaks cooked to an internal temperature of 145 F will be safe because the outside will reach a temperature high enough to kill the surface bacteria. However, if a steak is poked or stabbed, these bacteria can be pushed inside, and then the meat must be cooked to 160 F, the same as hamburger. Use a separate set of tongs for removing cooked meat, poultry and seafood from the grill to prevent cross contamination.

■ Grilled food can be kept hot until serving by moving it to the side of the grill rack, just away from the coals to avoid overcooking.

■ Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs.

■ Avoid placing foods in the temperature danger zone, 40 F to 140 F. Never let raw meat, poultry, eggs, cooked food or cut fresh fruit or vegetables sit unrefrigerated for more than two hours. If the outdoor temperature is above 90 F, perishable foods shouldn’t sit out more than one hour.

KAREN THOMAS is a family and consumer sciences educator for Penn State Extension in Lackawanna County.

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